


civilities

by Wired_Prophet



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: (duh), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politics, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 18:51:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14551140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wired_Prophet/pseuds/Wired_Prophet
Summary: Canon divergence where Dominus and Rewind stay back on Cybertron instead of searching for the cure for cybercrosis. Dominus gets a hold of a certain miner's writings and decides the two of them might have something in common.





	civilities

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to the discord group for beta-reading! love u guys
> 
> chapters subject to edits based on critiques

  
Dark. Gloomy. 

Two words that one could use to describe the cell Megatron was kept in. He had a hundred, or perhaps a thousand, different synonyms that could be employed should he decide to write about this particular event . There was no reason to do so, it was not the first time he had been tossed into jail and most likely, it would not be the last. However, today felt important, like a thousand outcomes coming together to collect as a single, unwavering future.

He checked his chronometer and saw it was the middle of the night. Megatron offlined his optics and leaned back against the unpolished wall. He supposed this was  _somewhat_  better than drilling.

But, of course life could not allow him even twenty minutes of contemplation before wrestling him up again. A few scrapes of peds against the floor came echoing down the hallway like a toiling knell.

“Megatron,” a deep voice came, not sounding like any of the officers who had originally arrested him. “Get up, you’re being released on bail.”

He clambered from the floor of the cell without a word. His face remained solemn, but beneath it was a mixture of confusion. Megatron had few friends aside from Impactor—who was not going to be getting out any time soon—and certainly none of them had the money for prison bail, let alone cared enough to risk coming downtown just to visit him .

He dared to speak up only once they began down the hallway. “Who is it?” He asked.

“Some memory stick. He didn’t give us his name, although he’s still waiting at the front desk.”

This only furthered Megatron’s confusion. Sure the right limitations for disposables were long since removed from Cybertron, but they were still the lowest possible class. Where would someone like that get the money?

Before they could walk out of the confinement area, the officer stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder plate. He froze and tensed his joints, ready for a struggle.

“I’ve been looking at your file, you know. Compared to the other bystanders that were arrested at Maccadam’s, you’ve been here for almost twice the amount of time.”

Megatron kept his head forward and smirked. “ Just my luck I suppose.”

“Listen,” he said, “I don’t know about you, but I see there’s something going on with you. Something a few of the bureaucrats upstairs are unhappy about." The policebot dug around in his subspace and held out a card.

“If you ever feel you’re being treated… _unfair_ , give me a call.”

The door slid open and the yellow lights of the lounge floated in through the gray doorway. Megatron let the policebot’s offer stew for a second in his brain module before finally looking over at the mech beside him.

“Thank you.” He said and took the card with Orion Pax stamped in bold letters.

Orion let go of Megatron and unceremoniously joined a colleague at a desk who was flipping through a data pad.

When he approached the front doors, a tiny bot sat up and walked with haste towards him. He stood in front of him, trying to hide the perturbation lightly jostling his small frame.

“Hello,” the bot held out a hand, “I’m glad to see you’ve been let out without much trouble.”

Megatron bent over a bit awkwardly took the servo and gently gave it a shake, peeking out of the corners of his optics as if someone was going to tackle him at any instant.

“Are you okay?” The memory stick asked, hand still being shook for much longer than necessary.

The larger mech stopped, he sighed stood up again, deciding there was no reason to be so skeptical. At least for now. “Apologies, I’ve been put a bit on edge.”

The other bot nodded with understanding. “It’s fine, but we really should be going.”

“ _We_? That’s quite presumptuous of you, I don’t even know your name.”

“Ah well,” the mech tapped his digits together. “I have to keep this discreet. Trust me, it will all be explained soon. My… _friend_  has a job proposition for you. I can assure you it’s much less messy than mining. Megatron raised a brow at the offer, seeing if he gets any more information. The bot fidgeted.

“Please? Just give me an answer, I don’t want to stay around here any longer than I have to.” An agreeable claim, the office workers were beginning to stare at their loitering. A mech with extensive empurata modifications walked in and gave him an enraged leer, continuing to watch him as he slowly made his way to the back desks .

He shuddered at the hostile attention. “I suppose I owe it to you, I feel as though my fate here would have been less than amicable.” Megatron made a gesture. “Lead the way.”

The bot brightened at the answer, babbling as they walked with some expressions of gratitude, also mentioning how well-spoken he was, and how they would all probably get along well, he hoped. Megatron still kept a quiet act, but paid a surface level of attention to both his words and their surroundings .

When they approached a high-speed rail, he went to protest, but the bot ignored him and swiped a pass by the door-check and walked in with nonchalance. It was then that Megatron realized that the train car was near empty, because it was a weekday, and of course the upper-class didn’t work at night during the weekday, why would they?

They didn’t say anything for a bit, listening to the steady thumps and watching the glittering lights of Iacon stream by. His companion broke the silence first. “It sucks we have to take the track at night to avoid people, but in all honesty I prefer it this way. It’s so nice and relaxing without everyone else on it.”

Megatron was not relaxed by any definition, but he had to admit there was a soothing quality to the rhythmic engine of the machine. “I’ve never been on one,’ he said.

“I didn’t think so, I’ve really only been on it couple times myself.”

What a funny picture they must make, Megatron thought. A miner fresh from jail and a disposable sitting on a train for the bourgeois during the dead of night. He began to wonder how things were doing back at Nova Point. Were the supervisors doing about his absence at roll call? What sort of gossip was spreading about him and Impactor’s disappearance?

Did anybody even notice he was gone?

The high-speed stopped with a gradual push against inertia and wheeze of steam.

“Why won’t you tell me your name?” He asked as they walked further into the residential districts. He felt at more unease here than he did during his occasional visits to the slums of Kaon.

“I’m not supposed to. In case we find out we can’t trust you.” He paused for a second. “Actually, I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that much, either.”

Megatron hummed in response. “You don’t seem to distrust me.”

“My friend is particularly cautious, which is a blessing in disguise, but I’m aware it can also make him a bit paranoid.” They approached a row of large, decadent building. “Besides, I think you’ve got a lot of potential, potential that we desperately need.”

They entered the gateway of one of the homes. He looked up and saw a sign with decorative letters saying “ _House of Ambus_ ".

Ah.

This was the home of Dominus Ambus.

The small bot opened the door, looking comically unfit for the house’s size. Megatron walked with hesitance behind him, treating the door like a soft foil. “We’re home!” The bot shouted.

The inside of the house was deceivingly unlike the outside. While the interior was somewhat tasteful, it lacked the grandeur that appeared when one approached the building . There was a long table in the center room, most likely for discussing things over energon, but there was nothing on it . There were no pieces such as fantastic crystal chandeliers or statues, things that Megatron had been able to spy through the windows of other parts of the neighborhood.

Despite this, there were a few trinkets placed here and there on side tables. He could guess who was responsible for those.

“Rewind!” A voice came from one of the hallways connected to the center room.

And there he was.

Dominus Ambus took Rewind’s face in a tender hold. “I’m happy to see you’re alright." Rewind gave a cheerful pat to one the servos on his mask and murmured a “you too".

He let go of Rewind’s face quickly as he had taken it and approached Megatron with a sudden change in attitude. His arms were now behind his back and his head lifted.

“Megatron of Tarn,” he said, “I’m Dominus Ambus and thank you for joining my conjunx, Rewind. I recognize this is an odd arrangement but,” he held a hand out, “you most likely aren’t aware that there are a lot of people watching you .”

He shook his hand like he did with Rewind’s, jarred at the situation he was in. He didn’t let it show, and instead went with the game these political types like to play. “I was not, nevertheless I am thankful for your assistance.” He let go. “Yet, I do wonder your intentions. For someone so secretive that was quite the hand of cards you’ve just given me, allowing me into your home and the such.”

Dominus raised his brows for a moment, but lowered them with an amused chuckle. “Come along,” he said, “ I believe we have a symbiotic partnership on our hands.

 

**Author's Note:**

> experimental au!! please feel free to give crits, I want to really go all out with this


End file.
